Joan Joyce will be inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame on March 20.

Feb. 28, 2012

BOCA RATON, FL - Florida Atlantic University's head softball and women's golf coach Joan Joyce will be inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame on Tuesday, March 20 at the Mainsail Conference Center in Tampa.

Joyce is the only coach in the history of FAU softball and has never suffered a losing season in the program's 17 full seasons. More impressively, Joyce has guided FAU softball to nine Atlantic Sun Conference Championships, including eight-consecutive titles, and set a league record for total titles by a sport. The Owls transitioned into the Sun Belt Conference in 2007 and set a tone by capturing the program's first SBC title. FAU has averaged 42 victories a season under Joyce's direction.

Joyce came to FAU after a legendary softball career which garnered the Connecticut native All-America honors 15 times, including a National Tournament batting title (.467). She tallied a career pitching record of 753-42. Included in those totals are 150 no-hit, no-run games, and 50 perfect games. She also is credited with striking out both Ted Williams and Hank Aaron.

Joyce was also a member of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) for 19 years. Her best round was a 66, which did not include the round which she set a Guinness Book World Record for fewest putts in a round at 17. She also has played professional volleyball, basketball and was a participant in the famed "Super Stars" television show on ABC hosted by Howard Cosell in the mid-1970s.

The Florida Sports Hall of Fame induction is the 10th such honor for Joyce. She also has been enshrined into the Palm Beach County Sports Hall of Fame, the Connecticut Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame, the Han O'Donnell Hall of Fame, the Fairfield County Sports Hall of Fame, the International Softball Federation Hall of Fame, The National Amateur Softball Hall of Fame, the Greater Waterbury Hall of Fame, and is just one of a handful of Americans who have been inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.

The Owls are less than one month into their season and will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada for the Eller Media Stadium Classic, hosted by UNLV. The tournament begins on Friday, March 2 when FAU plays the University of Illinois.